Automotive transmissions come in a variety of configurations. For instance, a dual clutch transmission (DCT) includes two input clutches for respectively selecting oddly-numbered and evenly-numbered gear sets. In a DCT, a transmission controller predicts a next-selected gear in a particular shift progression using various control input values such as engine acceleration, vehicle speed, and braking levels, and then stages the next-selected gear ahead of the impending shift. Relative to an automatic transmission, such staging can produce faster gear shift speeds, with the DCT design also providing improved shift control and power. An automated manual transmission (AMT) is similar in structure to a DCT but has only one input clutch. An automatic transmission, which may utilize a hydrodynamic torque converter assembly in lieu of a friction input clutch, uses multiple planetary gear sets and friction clutches to establish a desired output speed ratio. All of these transmission designs use shift progression logic to determine which gear states to select and when to select them.